It was not just a coincidence that I was involved in C&TS rotary runs in 91, 93, 94, 95 and WP&YR rotary runs in 96, 97, 98, 99, and 2001. In both places there was a cadre of people who thought it could be exciting, challenging, useful, and of good publicity value to operate the rotary to open at least part of the line.
For my own part I have generally felt that the old tools were well designed for solving the old problems.
At the C&TS in particular the road bed, ties, cuts, and fills were in a condition that I was not comfortable with using caterpillar tractors on. Additionally we did not own a cat of any kind much less one that set up to crawl over railroad tracks without tearing up the ties. The rotary on the other hand was specifically designed for plowing snow off the railroad.
The WP&YR had cats set up for use on the railroad and also had personnel experienced in using them. The steep (American) side of White Pass is prone to both ice and avalanches neither of which is easily handled by rotaries. That was the reason they started using caterpillars in the first place. On the Canadian side of the pass there was lots of snow but not much in the way of ice or avalanche danger. It is well suited for use of the rotary.
At both railroads there were people who were familiar with steam operated machinery and who wanted to experience or experience again what old time railroading was like.
Both railroads were looking for publicity.
In the case of the C&TS in 1991 my wife Veronica arranged exclusive coverage by CBS news. A story produced by Bob McNamara appeared on the national “CBS Evening News” with Dan Rather and also on “Good Morning America” with Harry Smith. The story which was all “good ink” as they say ran about 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Since it ran both in the morning and the evening we got 5 minutes of national air time. We figured that even in those days that was about $1,000,000 of the kind of good advertising you can’t buy. We chartered a train with the Friends of the C&TS to go along with it. By joining the “Friends” riders got a discount and the “Friends made enough money to help with acquiring the tank cars. I think the “Friends also got a healthy boost in membership.
Clearing the railroad with caterpillars does not produce national news coverage.
The WP&YR also ran the rotary in conjunction with charter trains and got TV coverage.
It is absolutely true that it was hard work. You have to have lots of locomotives in good working order, experienced and dedicated crews, supportive and visionary management and public relations professionals with good contacts to pull it off.
There were tremendous challenges to overcome every time we ran.
In 1991 The Rotary spent the night at Cumbres. The watchman didn’t use the right hand injector all night and the supply line froze and split which required a 5 foot long pipe line weld the next morning. Also the follow train got stuck in the snow cut above Coxo curve and had to be rescued by the engine which had spent the night on top with the rotary.
In 1993 we shoved the rotary with 3 locomotives. Despite shoveling snow into the tenders for most of the day we ran low on water in the locomotives at Windy Point. The Chama Fire Department had to bring us a load of water and pump it up to the locomotives so we had enough to get to the Cumbres water plug. We arrived well after dark plowing 6-7’ of snow with the stack shooting a veritable Mt Vesuvius into the night sky.
In 1995 just short of Los Pinos trestle one of the half axles on the OY’s engine broke and took out the cylinder head. While we were rebuilding the engine we also rebuilt the framing on both sides and put new siding on. After the rotary broke we finished clearing the line by bucking with the pilot plows. West of Long Creek the lead engine picked up a wedge of snow under the plow and ran up on it. It disassembled most of its spring rigging and disabled the engine. We had to drag it back near the highway west of Los Pinos siding and use hydraulic jacks to reassemble it.
By the time it ran in 97 I had gone to the WP&YR.
I would not recommend using a pilot plow and Jordan spreader on anything but fairly fresh snow. The accident that occurred with the 484 after I left proves that bucking snow with a pilot plow can be fairly dangerous. The only serious accident I am aware of fighting snow on the WP&YR happened bucking snow with a Jordan Spreader between MP15 and Tunnel Gulch in 1946. The spreader hit some ice and went over the side resulting in one fatality. The remains can still be seen 500 feet down the side of the mountain.
In 91, 93 and 94 after clearing the line we backed up from Osier to Cumbres at night. In the coal stove warmth of the caboose with our bellies full of home made burritos from the outfit car we enjoyed the kind of camaraderie that comes from success against great odds. We had to fight off sleep but they are some of the fondest memories I have of the C&TS. The bonds formed by those battles got us through many a tough time.
John Bush (the one who is NOT a writer)
